Two years ago, for Mother’s Day, my husband took me down to Austin, Texas. We spent a weekend at Sibby Barrett’s personal estate, Juniper Hills Farm, where I learned some new cooking techniques. The course I was really interested in was the “How to Cook Fish” class. Because while I can whip up a Beef [...]

My husband and I have been struggling here and there with how to discipline Pea. She’s one month shy of three. She’s intelligent, clever, beautiful, funny, loving and all of those wonderful things we want our children to be. Are you sensing an oncoming “but?” I hate to use that word, it’s as if it [...]

Pea is turning three in early June. And she wants a dollhouse. It’s all she can talk about. Currently, she’s playing with a plastic Fisher-Price dollhouse. It’s nothing special, but it does the trick. The little people, a mama, a daddy and a baby, keep getting lost. The furniture, a table, two chairs and a [...]

Three nights ago, I had my first night out with two of the nicest women I’ve ever crossed paths with. You know how there are a select few people that you encounter in your life who just have the ability to make you feel like you’ve known them forever? Well that is how these two [...]

When I was pregnant with Pea, I gained about seventy pounds. I was eating for two, right? So it was okay, right? And as my girth grew and grew and grew, I did a lot of shopping at Mimi Maternity. A lot. The saleswomen knew me by name. I was just so determined to be [...]

We have TiVo. Actually, we have several TiVos. Okay, we have one in every room. And it’s not that we watch a lot of television, because we don’t. But once you’ve had TiVo, you cannot go back. You just cannot. I have no idea what stations correlate to what channels any more, or what day [...]

My husband found this local “mom’s group” that was having a new member social on Saturday. Kids were invited. He suggested that I attend. I resisted. I’m not good at this stuff. But… I sent in my RSVP. Because I’d like to have friends in my new community. But then I worried all night about [...]

Oh, it’s been a while since I’ve made mention of my skin, right? The complete bane of my existence? Well. I have finally gotten the dry skin under control. Maybe a little too under control. Because I now have the opposite problem. Too much oil. Ugh. My skin. I just can’t live with it. Seriously, [...]

Hmm. I don’t think I should have used the word “sitter” to describe the girl who watched my daughters. It may have been misleading. She was a “mother’s helper.” She came in twice a week, five hours at a time, to help out. So for those of you who were wondering, “why doesn’t she just [...]

About a week ago, my husband and I took the girls over to a local gymnastics place to check out the activities for kids. When we walked in, we were standing behind a glass wall watching girls who could not have been more than 10 doing all kinds of flips and flops. Pea instantly kicked [...]

So I thought I would expound a little bit more on our adventures with potty training. Because in all of my initial excitement, I forgot to mention one thing: Pea won’t poop. In the potty. She will, however, poop everywhere else.
The big tip that I took from the book I mentioned yesterday, “Potty Training in [...]

We have tried potty training Pea on several occasions. Those occasions usually ended with me saying “screw it,” and tossing another diaper on her. It’s not that I didn’t think she was ready, I’m sure she was. Perhaps I was lazy? Or just the most impatient mother in the world? Seriously, you pull down your [...]

My musical tastes are pretty varied. I love it all. I thank my mother for that. I was raised on Charles Aznavour and a steady stream of disco. GiGi is the original Francophile and it was the 70s, so that makes sense, right? Sprinkle in a little Buffalo Springfield and some Simon & Garfunkel, and [...]

This morning, we had a toddler fashion show. Pea was very into it. I needed to find a clever way to get her to try on the clothing currently in rotation in her closet and dresser. Ordinarily, it’s tough to get her into clothes. She wants nothing more than to run around in a pair [...]

Not that long ago, Krista, from Organize in Style, asked me if I would write a guest post on her site about my family’s move from Texas to Utah. I jumped at the chance. I thought, hey, I’ve moved a lot. I know stuff. I can share my wisdom and insight. And then, as I [...]